At this point, MC has been told via anonymous letter that ML is basically the reason his partner died and is full on planning on killing ML at some point. He’s pretending to be meek and docile for now but he hates the man’s guts lmao, but wants to keep him alive bc he has his partner’s heart? It seems a little confusing for me rn tbh but I assume it’s also just difficult emotions for the MC to process. The latest chapter I read had the ML FINALLY start to be a little gentle with MC, but it’s written clearly that MC is planning on making use of that lmao
The writing is pretty good imo and makes it clear how addictive guiding is, which I don’t think enough stories actually talk about
I will not spoil further, but it turns out it is a looot more complex than it seems. Here's the link to the novel: https://hyacinthbloom.com/series/ghost-apple/

Reporting in from reading up to chapter 44 of the novel: first of all, what the fuck
Secondly, Jesus Christ the ML is a HUGE black flag good lord he fucking sucks I do think the dynamic is rlly interesting because (this isn’t a huge spoiler, it gets revealed like immediately after their second meeting) he received MC’s deceased partner’s heart, so the imprint carried over. On one hand, you’ve got MC who rightfully mourns his partner and doesn’t want anything to do with ML, and ML who is obsessed and hates the fact that MC “thinks of a dead guy”